


Our Strange Little Family

by dinkitandrhinkit



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: F/F, F/M, Getting Together, M/M, My first foray into the OT4, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-04-01 02:50:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13988904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dinkitandrhinkit/pseuds/dinkitandrhinkit
Summary: All the kids are off on various camps and sleepovers for the first time, leaving the adults to unwind and relax over dinner and drinks.What will they do with all that freedom and a little bit of wine?





	Our Strange Little Family

"Hey handsome, care to dance with me?" Jessie asked with a cheeky grin, plugging her phone into the living room sound system.

"Sure thing, sugar. What're we dancing to?" Link replied, sashaying his way over to her with a sexy smirk of his own. How could anyone deny Jessie anything, when she turned her big brown eyes on them? Link certainly couldn't.

"Modern salsa." She shimmied her hips and laughed when Link attempted to copy her, completely missing the fluidity required to look good, but bringing an enthusiasm that was all Link. She grabbed his flailing hands and guided him, moving them from the living room into the open plan dining room, where they could watch over, and show off for, the cooks. Because what was the point of showing off if they didn't have an audience?

Rhett and Christy were the designated cooks for the night, since Link couldn't be trusted around knives or anything more complicated than cereal and Jessie had opened the wine an hour ago, enjoying her night off from parenting and responsibility.

The kids had all been gone to various camps and sleepovers for the past 2 days and the adults had finally allowed themselves the luxury of relaxing. It'd been a long time since they'd had this much freedom and it felt good. Strange, but good.

"Can you tell your husband to stop flirting with my wife?" Rhett griped to Christy, watching them samba around the table, Link almost tripping over a chair leg in his attempt to be sexy and suave. Jessie threw her head back and laughed, causing Link to pout and stop dancing, arms crossed and mock grouchy.

"I don't know. Can you tell your wife to stop flirting with my husband?" She fired back. Jessie had continued dancing, now mocking Link and poking out her tongue at him. He retaliated by grabbing her around her waist, lifting and twirling her. Her giggles filled the room and mixed with the beat of the music.

"Touché," He conceded. It was a well-worn joke between the blondes. The dark haired duo were well known as the shameless flirts of the group. They didn't have much of a chance to practice their flirtatious ways these days, being married with a brood of children. Except with each other, over the top and cheesy as hell. It was an endless source of entertainment for both Rhett and Christy.

Both blondes couldn't help but laugh as Link and Jessie had an impromptu competition to see who could dance the worst.

Jessie had long since kicked off her shoes and her dress fluttered as she skipped around. Link's shirt had been unbuttoned and flapped open over a t-shirt. Even jumping around like idiots, both the cooks couldn't deny that they were beautiful. Even more so for their ability to be unapologetically goofy.

Rhett couldn't help but ponder that a lot of the reasons he loved Jessie were also the reasons he loved Link. They were both funny, fierce and flirtatious. Apparently he had a very, very distinct type.

And god, did he love them both, as crazy as they both drove him. He wouldn’t trade either of them for the world.

He looked over at Christy, who'd begun to heckle the dancers and he couldn't help but smile. Christy was the rock of the group. She was the one that kept them all in check, when they all took off on their flights of fancy. Rhett and Christy had a lot in common too, and Rhett was glad Link had found another sane person to keep him alive and relatively unscathed.

Not that Christy wasn't fun. She could go just as crazy as the others and it was then they knew they were all in trouble.

Christy sensed Rhett's gaze and turned to throw him a 'what are we going to do with those two?' look. He couldn't help but shrug.

"At least they're our idiots, right?" Christy asked, going back to the chopping board, tossing her hair over her shoulder and suddenly making Rhett's knees weak with how much he loved his little family.

Links indignant "Hey!" caused another round of laughter.

*****

They sat down to dinner, the table much too big without the kids cluttering it up and making an unbelievable amount of noise. They'd chosen to sit with none of them at the head of the table. Instead, they sat with the women on one side of the table and the men on the other. Despite the fact that the table suddenly felt huge, they gathered together closely, too ingrained in being in each other's space to even realise they could spread out.

As at the GMM desk, the men's elbows bumped and their legs rested against each other.

The ladies had likewise rested their chairs together, losing themselves in talk of TV, kids and news when the men routinely found themselves in talk of work.

Christy and Jessie had long since given up trying to get the men to take a night off from shop talk. Work was their lives and as much as they wished they would just forget it for one night, they loved watching them dream. The passion and drive was breathtaking. They’d watched them turn their impossible dreams into an impossible reality and it was amazing.

An unprecedented third bottle of wine had been opened and very little remained. The group was feeling the warm fuzziness of encroaching tipsiness. Combined with the liberty of being themselves without having to parent, it created a heady, light feeling. They loved their kids, wholly and completely, but the chance to unwind was beyond rare and they wanted to savour it.

Link had slumped down a little, clearly feeling the effects of the alcohol and Rhett'd turned, placing his arm over the back of his chair, framing his shoulders, in case he were to fall sideways. Rhett didn't seem to have noticed himself doing it and Jessie shared a look with Christy, smiling indulgently at how the men protected each other instinctively and unselfishly, knowing how that position was destined to make Rhett’s back hell for a few days at least.

Jessie watched Rhett laugh at something Link said and was struck by how Rhett's shoulders had released their tension and his laugh was boisterous as it bounced around the room. She was in awe of their ability to make each other laugh, even after decades of friendship and near daily contact. It was something she appreciated about their relationship, while she simultaneously envied it. Their friendship was as beautiful as they were.

She'd known from her and Rhett's first not-date how important it was that she and Link get along. And they hadn't immediately. It'd taken some time of sizing each other up, figuring out where they fit in his life, but it hadn't taken them too long to relax and find their own dynamic. And she loved their dynamic now.

Christy sighed contentedly beside her and Jessie felt her head fall to rest on her shoulder. They may not have the relationship the men had, but the woman had a relationship that was something damn special too. Thanks to their husbands, they'd found a friendship unlike any they'd had before.

Getting along with Christy had been nearly as important as getting along with Link and Jessie looked up to Christy. She was a few years older and Jessie could remember feeling so young and naïve when she’d first met the beautiful, tall, funny, older woman. But now she was lucky to call Christy her best friend and partner in crime whenever the boys got out of line.

Jessie looked up to see that Link's head had also slipped to rest on Rhett's shoulder and she shared a grin with her husband, happiness bubbling in her chest.

When she'd found Rhett, she'd also found a second family and she loved them with all her heart.

*****

After the table had been cleared, the couples moved to the living room, Jessie plugging in her phone again, this time choosing some classic country.

They'd all hit their second wind, now slightly beyond tipsy. Without a word, Link had grabbed Jessie and started dancing again, off beat and wild.

Christy shot Rhett a mischievous grin and Rhett did as she silently commanded, offering his hand with an exaggerated bow and a deep, sultry "May I have this dance?"

She giggled and pretended to swoon, taking his hand and allowing herself to be led. Rhett couldn't dance like Link could, but Christy didn't mind, too busy being swept up in the nostalgia of the song playing. She didn't know the name, couldn't place the title, maybe she'd never even heard it before, but something about it took her back to her early twenties, when everything was bright and new.

Rhett’s arms around her felt familiar and she felt herself floating around the room, trusting he’d keep her safe.

"Hey, hands off my wife, brother," Link threatened. He was holding Jessie much tighter than Rhett was holding Christy, so he took it as the joke it was, pulling Christy closer.

"She's mine now," He retorted.

Jessie rolled her eyes, pushing Link away and snatching Christy from Rhett, pulling her in tighter than either man had dared with either woman.

"You're both wrong. She's mine." The woman laughed and after a few seconds, the men took the dare, grabbing each other, Link linking his hands behind Rhett's neck and Rhett's hands a little too low and far back on Link's hips to be considered normal for regular friends. But personal space wasn't an issue when they were practically the same person.

That’d been something Christy had struggled with when she first met Link. Dating one of them was tantamount to dating them both. Rhett had accepted her with open arms, but she’d still felt the pressure to be good enough. He’d become her ally in keeping Link safe and loved. And by extension, she loved Rhett too. He was the calming presence in their otherwise crazy life.

Their laughter resounded around the room and Christy couldn't help but lean further into Jessie, trying to follow her moves and outdo the men.

The thought that she could lean down and kiss Jessie flitted into her brain, but she laughed it off, like she laughed off every weird intrusive thought she’d had about her best friends throughout the years. What was in that wine? She didn't think it's been that long since she'd had a drink or two, but it was obviously affecting her more than usual.

Jessie had quickly become her best friend, and while they’d never have the history that the men shared, she and Jessie had grown up together in different ways, raising their kids together, moving across the country together and trying to keep the men’s feet on the ground together.

As they turned, she looked over at the men. Link's head was resting on Rhett's collarbone and Rhett was gazing down, whispering into his ear. Link giggled softly and Rhett smiled. Christy hummed as something in her chest tightened at the unguarded affection between them.

Jessie looked up at her in question and followed her gaze to the men too.

"Get a room, fellas," She giggled. The men laughed awkwardly and pulled apart enough their bodies were no longer touching all the way down. Something in Christy's chest tightened again, but this time it felt wrong.

Jessie felt the tap of a hand on her shoulder.

"Mind if I cut in?" Link asked.

"Not at all. Time for a partner swap." Jessie twirled over to Rhett and landed in his waiting arms. He greeted her with a kiss, just like the one Christy'd imagined sharing with her not even a minute before. This time she imagined a beard brushing her lips and she found she didn’t mind the thought at all.

"Howdy, darlin'," Link drawled, pulling her attention back to her handsome husband. He was imitating the southern accent of whichever country singer was currently playing. It was more than a little reminiscent of Lohn Lightning.

It wasn't too long ago that he wouldn't've had to try so hard to imitate the southern drawl. But they'd all changed a lot since they'd moved west. They'd grown up, grown more open minded and liberal.

Christy buried her head in Link's chest, a little dizzy from the alcohol and her own runaway thoughts. She inhaled and felt peace. He smelled of his own cologne, but it was mixed with the scents of their best friends and she felt at home.

She loved her crazy group of oddballs.

*****

It was past their bedtimes, but with no children to put to bed or to be responsible role models for, they agreed on staying up and watching a movie. Why not indulge when they had the chance?

Link queued up Netflix and let the others argue about what to watch. Usually he'd have a firm opinion, being by far the pickiest of the four. But with the alcohol in his blood and no pressure to contribute, he found himself drifting into daydreams, vaguely listening to their chatter and allowing it to quiet his usually overactive mind.

Something about not having the kids around had Link remembering how they were before. It had him looking back at all the things they'd been through together.

He and Rhett had been friends for almost as long as either of them could remember and he couldn’t imagine his life without him.

When he'd met Christy, she'd shaken his world up and he'd loved her more and more every second since. She was the stable influence he needed to allow him to dream bigger.

He hadn't immediately loved Jessie. She was too young, too flirty and he'd been convinced she wouldn't stick around. But he'd been wrong and he was so glad he was. Because she fit their strange family perfectly and no one less would've deserved Rhett. She was truly something special, but then they all were.

"You haven't seen Brokeback Mountain?" Christy sounded incredulous and it broke Link out of his deep musings enough that he glanced over at the others.

"If I wanted to watch two hot southern boys pretend not to be in love with each other, I'd just watch GMM," Jessie laughed.

Rhett gave a weird, stilted fake laugh and Link's eyes met his. He still hadn't quite re-joined the land of the living, kind of staring without blinking, half awake and half dreaming.

"Yeah," He mumbled, not entirely sure what he was agreeing with.

"You can't watch hot guys makin' out on GMM," Christy giggled. Link shook the fog out of his brain and re-engaged with the conversation around him.

"I know. It's a shame," Jessie sighed.

"What?" Rhett interrupted. He seemed completely lost, like they'd skipped half the script.

"Women love watching two hot guys kissin'," Jessie added, by way of explanation. As if it were obvious.

"Really?" Rhett asked, looking to Link for back up. Link could only shrug. He'd never understood what made women tick and he'd given up trying years ago. Christy let him know when he messed up. Frequently.

"Do guys like watching gorgeous women makin' out?" Christy asked the rhetorical question and smiled when Rhett's guilty, bashful expression said it all.

"Exactly. It's like this," Jessie agreed, grabbing Christy and kissing her.

Christy gave into the kiss immediately without hesitation. She'd never kissed a woman before, but it felt as natural and normal as kissing Link did, because it was Jessie.

Jessie had started it to prove a point, but she didn't stop. She hadn't expected Christy to play along quite so enthusiastically, but as long as she was kissing back, Jessie wasn't going to stop, thoroughly enjoying kissing her best friend.

Christy pulled away first, looking flushed and dazed, but smiling at Jessie as if she'd won the lottery.

"Wow, Jess," She breathed.

"Your turn, boys," Jessie grinned, turning to the men who were watching, slack jawed and short of breath.

The men were the competitive types. Both women knew that they couldn't resist. They might try, but they'd give in eventually.

Link looked at Rhett, who looked stunned and stunningly gorgeous in the low light given off by the two small lamps illuminating the room. He liked still being able to shock or surprise Rhett, after all this time, so he knew he had to go for it.

Link had barely made the conscious decision, didn't even notice himself moving until he was leaning over Christy and half way across Jessie. The supportive guiding hand of his wife on his lower back encouraged him to not back out.

He hadn't noticed Rhett had leaned in too. Their lips met tentatively and Link would swear he'd meant it to be brief and over in a second, giving the girls a taste of what they wanted, but leaving them wanting more. Instead, he was tasting the wine on Rhett's tongue, which had found its way into his mouth. He had no idea how or when, but he didn't care. He didn't want it to ever leave.

When they pulled away, after Link didn't know how long, he found himself intercepted as he leaned back. Jessie had wound a hand into his hair and guided his lips to hers. Her lips were slick, whether from her lipstick, Christy's lipstick or both, Link didn't know. She was soft and sweet and she made a soft whimper as he pulled away that made him want to pull her onto his lap and never let her go.

Rhett smirked at Christy and she knew what was coming before he even opened his mouth.

"May I have this kiss?" His voice matched the one he'd used earlier and this time she did swoon. Their kiss was brief, but Christy couldn't help but memorize every wonderful sensation.

It had felt odd to lean down into her kiss with Jessie, it felt odd to feel the brush of a beard against her face when she kissed Rhett and when she turned to kiss Link to complete the set, it felt odd how she could almost taste the others on his lips. It was only in her imagination, she knew, but she liked it. She liked it a lot.

Maybe most of all, it felt odd how it should have felt so much odder.

"What?" Link asked, looking from flushed face to flushed face. He’d expected to feel some sense of jealousy or something, but he hadn’t. He felt nothing but heat and love. It had him confused and a little nervous.

"I don't know about you, but I've been wanting to do that for years," Jessie grinned an unusually shy smile at both Link and Christy.

"Me too," Christy admitted, acknowledging the thoughts she'd never thought she'd ever confess to having.

"What're we doing?" Rhett asked. Jessie patted his knee and gave him a reassuring kiss. When she leaned back, Rhett had a tiny grin on his face, clearly still not sure what was happening, but trusting enough in Jessie and the others that he was along for the ride.

"Are you OK?" Christy asked Link, knowing him well enough to know that he must’ve been feeling anxious.

"Yeah, I'm good," He studied the three faces looking at him for confirmation. Once he'd given it, he saw three breathtaking smiles in return and he relaxed. There was no need to be scared. These people were the ones he loved. They’d all been watching for his approval, because they all knew, of all of them, he was the anxious one. He wasn’t the cautious one, but he was the one who was slightly freaking out right now. It warmed him to know they all were waiting for him to catch up.

"I think maybe y'all've had too much to drink. I think it's probably best if you stay here tonight?" Jessie asked, looking at Rhett, who quickly nodded his agreement.

"It is getting awful late too, isn't it, babe?" Christy replied, looking at Link. Link nodded too, giving permission for anything that was happening to continue.

"I plain forgot to make up the spare room," Jessie grinned and Link's blood rushed south at the tone and that naughty glint in her eye. Christy and Rhett shared an amused, but dark look. They did always love it when they flirted.

"Oh yeah?" Link leaned in, "Where are we gonna sleep then?"

"Who said anything about sleepin’?" She smirked, "And I think maybe there's enough room in our bed to fit a few more," Jessie giggled and kissed him again, before pulling him up and off the couch towards the stairs.

Rhett and Christy rolled their eyes at their flirtatious brunets, but didn't hesitate to follow, stumbling up the stairs wrapped in each other too, doing whatever felt good.

*****

Maybe it was the wine or the freedom. Maybe it'd just been a long time coming. Whatever it was, it felt undeniably right. They'd always had a strange connection, the four of them and now they could finally show each other how much they were loved, in all the ways they were loved.

They'd built their lives around their relationships and, as incomprehensible as it might seem to anyone else, this was just the next step.

Their strange little family just got stranger, but they definitely liked it that way.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing the OT4, but boy did I enjoy it. I hope you enjoyed reading it. If you did, feel free to let me know? 
> 
> Thanks for reading, you beautiful Mythical Beast.


End file.
